Brazil, Ecuador to Help Haiti Set Up New Army to Eventually Replace UN Peacekeeping Force

Brazil, Ecuador to Help Haiti Set Up New Army to Eventually Replace UN Peacekeeping Force (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Ecuador, Brazil to help set up Haiti new military – Brazil and Ecuador have agreed to help Haiti set up a new army that will eventually replace the U.N. peacekeeping force that has protected the impoverished Caribbean nation on and off since 1994, officials say.

Haiti’s President Michel Martelly has been pushing the idea of reconstituting the army for almost a year, saying Haitians would prefer to have their country protected by its own troops rather than United Nations soldiers deployed in Haiti.

Brazil’s Defense Ministry confirmed it was prepared to help Haiti in everything it needs to restore its army, including military training and engineering. Ecuador has also pledged its support, a defense ministry official said.

“Brazil will give all its know-how to help Haiti rebuild its army,” a defense ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

Brazil, which heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, will send a military team to Haiti in the next two to three weeks to assess the situation, the spokesperson said.